As Long as His Music Is “Helping and Touching People,” Cole Swindell Isn’t Just Chasing No. 1 Singles

When Cole Swindell’s “Flatliner” reached No. 1 in August 2017, it marked his seventh consecutive single to reach No. 1 on a Billboard or Mediabase chart after “Middle of a Memory,” “Chillin’ It,” “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight,” “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey,” “Let Me See Ya Girl” and “You Should Be Here.”

That mix of No. 1 tunes runs the gamut from party (“Chillin’ It”) to profound (“You Should Be Here”).

While Cole’s streak of No. 1 tunes ended with “Stay Downtown,” which peaked at No. 28 in 2017, he’s back on country radio with a new single—“Break Up in the End”—that features lyrical depth leaning more toward the profound than the party.

“I started off my career and had a streak of songs that [reached No. 1], yeah, that made me happy, but now I’m to a point to where it’s like every song isn’t gonna be a number one, but I am where I can release what I want to say,” says Cole to Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown. “You know, just because it’s not number one doesn’t mean it’s not a big song . . . you get so caught up in the, ‘Oh, a number one, a number one,’ but it’s like, man, as long as it’s helping people and touching people. It’s crazy to know that we get to do this and make people feel something—that’s why I wanted to write songs, because I knew how I felt when I heard certain songs, so I just wanted a shot at trying to help other people the way music has helped me.”

Written by Jon Nite, Chase McGill and Jessie Jo Dillon, “Break Up in the End” is the lead single from Cole’s forthcoming album, which follows his 2016 sophomore album, You Should Be Here. Currently, the single is No. 27 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart after 11 weeks.